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Pluralism at risk in Europe

Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom analyzed pluralism in the European media and concluded that no country is risk free. In Portugal the study was coordinated by CIC.Digital.

Pluralism in Europe is at risk, concluded the Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) after examining media reports from 30 European countries. "There is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to protecting against commercial and political interference in media and media access for women and minorities," said Pier Luigi Parcu, CMPF director and European study coordinator.

While most countries generally have basic regulatory safeguards for pluralism in the media, some erosion of freedom of expression and protection for journalists can be identified in about one-third of countries. The worst case scenario for basic protections analyzed was in Turkey. Only a few countries show low risk in political independence, market plurality and social inclusion areas.

The portuguese team from the CC.Digital who participated in this study was constituted by researchers and professors from the Department of Communication Sciences of NOVA FCSH: Rui Cádima (coordinator), Carla Baptista, Luís Oliveira Martins And Marisa Torres da Silva. The Portuguese case analysis can be found here.

Key Findings:

Media ownership is highly concentrated. This constitutes a significant barrier to the diversity of information and viewpoints represented in media content.

The lack of transparency of media ownership is a reality in many countries.

Editorial autonomy is one of the most vulnerable aspects of media systems, thus susceptible to commercial and political influences.

Many of the media authorities across Europe face strong political pressures, particularly when it comes to nomination procedures and composition of authorities.

Most countries present significant risks in relation to media literacy, either because they do not have a policy in this area or because they have insufficiently developed or because they do not pay attention to the teaching of media literacy both inside and outside schools.

Many of the minorities residing in the EU do not have adequate access to the media, and the EU media are non-existent in several countries.

None of the countries had a low risk of portraying women as subjects and sources in the news, indicating that women may be heavily underrepresented in the media across Europe.